In simple terms, it means that for each putt that you hit to have the best possible chance of going in – it needs to be hit with enough speed

That if it misses the hole – it will go a foot or two past before coming to rest

This idea is something that virtually every great putter over the years has based their game on – the most notable exponent of this being the Spanish golfing legend Seve Ballesteros

A world class professional golfer who was happy to hit his putts hard enough that if they missed they would go up to a yard past the hole

That’s probably a bit far past for most golfers to be confident while standing over the return putt but it certainly worked well for Seve

The other thing that you will have probably realised by now is that the idea of ‘holing speed’

Is almost directly opposite to the common idea that most golfers have when putting

That the ball should only be hit hard enough so that it will ‘die into the hole’

But as you will know by now – I don’t talk about things that ‘all the other golfers know’

Instead I talk about things that will actually help you to play better golf!

The question that arises from applying the idea of ‘holing speed’ on the green is this:

How can you combine hitting your putt with sufficient speed that it will go just past the hole if you happen to miss with the accuracy required when faced with a short putt?

Before I get to the answer I’d like to give you a little example of what you can use to do this from another area of your life because in actual fact

You already naturally know how to do what’s required!

Imagine that you are driving your car down the road and you realise that coming towards you is a familiar car that is being driven by a friend, family member or workmate of yours

As you get closer, even though in theory – you should be focussing on the road and where you are driving to – your attention will generally start to focus on the number plate of the car and if you recognise that

From their your attention will probably end up on the face of the driver of the other car

In fact, the human eyes and brain are so good at doing this that most often you can clearly make eye contact with the other driver – even though both vehicles are moving towards each other at some speed and there will still be a reasonable amount of distance between the vehicles

It’s this same function of the human eyes and brain working together that allows you to ‘lock eyes’ with someone across a crowded room or quickly scan the area and locate your child if you hear their cry at a playground

In short the targeting ability that you have sitting under your golf hat during every round is one of the most efficient on the planet and even better – it’s actually free!

Most golfers don’t use it well enough when it comes to putting or just golf in general

It’s as if they have either been convinced not to or will have given little thought to the idea that they can actually aim at something much smaller than ‘the golf hole’ itself

Obviously when you are lining up a putt – nothing will be moving as it would be in the car example I gave above and ideally there won’t be anyone’s eyes near the hole you are about to putt into

However, you can still use this ability to ‘lock onto’ a specific point when putting

Which I recommend would be something very small at the back of the hole – a different coloured piece of grass or an inconsistency in the cup

In the image at the start of this post for example, I would be using the odd bit of white paint that is on the back of the hole above the actual cup to aim at

Once you get used to looking for a small target at the back of the hole for every putt that you hit – you will be surprised at just how many you will see that you have never noticed before

I’m going to leave it there for now as I’d like you to head out and have a go at ‘locking on’ to an extremely small target at the back of the hole prior to putting for a few rounds before I get onto the next point I’d like to discuss in ‘How to make more short putts on the golf green – part three’

Just who is this guy who writes all this stuff?

A professional golfer from the time he left school, Ian turned into a frustrated golfer after a long break from golf. His Golf Habits blog is an ongoing record of his total review, questioning and relearning of all that he knows and has experienced about golf in the effort to help himself and all levels of golfer around the world to play better, enjoy their golf more and reach their true potential for more than a couple of shots or a few holes a round - it's at www.golfhabits.com
Since becoming a professional golfer again in late 2012 he also has a golf lesson information website - which you can find at www.ianhardie.net